Drift brake aka turning brakes

[Wulfthang]

I have my Rail down right now for some updates and upgrades. Part of that, is new turning brakes. I traded in the old single handle for two sleek looking "Drift Brakes". They look good and seem pretty rugged so for thirty five bucks a pop, I thought I'd give two of them a try.

I mounted them on the old mount and they fit good. Then I started to hook up the hydraulic lines and ran into problems. I don't know what size fittings they take! Per the specs., they're something called 7/16 UNF and3/8 UNF.

Does anybody know what that is and how to connect them to VW brake lines?

[TDCTDI]

Do a search through Summit Racing or Jegs.

https://www.summitracing.com/search?SortBy=BestKey...o%20metric


Or get the fittings from your FLAPS & make your own lines.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[Wulfthang]

Yeah, I tried the online speed shops but can't find a match. I'm just going to take it in to one of the local speed shops.

What's a "FLAPS"?

[TDCTDI]

Friendly
Local
Auto
Parts
Store
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[Wulfthang]

Thanks!

[dustymojave]

Just some people pronounce "friendly" a little different...

The fitting sizes at 3/8 UNF, is simply 3/8 fine bolt thread. And 7/16 UNF is similarly 7/16 fine bolt thread. So they are NOT listing tapered pipe thread or AN. I don't know why they chose straight bolt threads instead of tapered pipe thread. Hard to seal bolt thread. And hard to find fittings to put into them.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[Wulfthang]

I have some adapters on the way that should be here in a couple of days. We shall see if they will fit. The fittings are not just threaded bolt holes. They're cut for a flare fitting just like the 10MM VW flare except not.

[Schepp]

If you are using the empi or other China Turing brake. The thread size is 1/8-NPT. Not 10mm taper thread. I purchased both metric and imperial tapered thread sizes and verified 1/8-NPT fits correctly.

I’m not a big fan of the bubble flares. You’re technically not supposed to re-use them once they’ve been tightened up. They’re essentially a crush fitting.
That doesn’t mean they will leak if re-used but they could.

Not only that but the 1/8-NPT to 10-1.0mm metric bubble flare fittings are way more pricey than standard 1/8-NPT to 3/8-24 inverted flare fittings.

Inverted flares can be re-used over and over. It’s what all American and Japanese car manufacturers use.

So I used the inverted style flares on my turning brake just in case I ever need to remove it.

[Wulfthang]

Yeah, they're from China but they don't use 1/8npt on either the inlet or outlet. They are officially called 7/16 UNF and3/8 UNF with the bigger one being the intake. Both are flare type fittings. I could have found adapters locally but I ordered some. I figure at under forty bucks a pop including shipping, it's worth spending a little on adapters. They're called Drift Brakes on Fleabay.

[Schepp]

Don’t be surprised if you can’t get the fittings to seal with the straight threads. Sounds like it’s more of a hassle than what it’s worth.

Also drift brakes are not turning brakes. The handle you bought will lock both wheels up when you pull on it.

A turning brake is selectable for left or right side of the car.

[Wulfthang]

[sailtexas186548]

[Wulfthang]

Here's the pair that I'm using.

[Wulfthang]

After ordering assorted adapters and taking it in to a rice burner auto speed shop, I have given up on finding any kind of adapters for these drift brakes. I can find adapters that fit but nothing that will adapt it to 10mm bubble flare.

I considered machining out some adapters but decided that that was to much work. Then I considered having four custom brake lines with the proper fittings/flare on one end and 10mm bubble flare on the other end made up but gave up on that idea too. So I just ran a 1/8" pipe thread tap thru it after disassembling it. One of the holes was already very close to 1/8" pipe and just needed "chasing". The other one had to be actually tapped but it was pretty easy.

Now I'll clean it out really well and install them both. I set a hundred dollar limit on this project just to see if it could be done. I have exceeded that limit but only because I bought a hand full of brass fittings that don't fit! I should have just tapped it out to 1/8" pipe from the start. Oh well.

[CrazyTestPilot]

So you've figured out how this new system is going to integrate with your foot brake? Add another $100 or so.

[Wulfthang]

It's already completed and in use daily except in this crappy cold weather we've been having!

[PhillipM]